One of the most important features of your home is a strong, reliable and weather resistant roof.
The roof of your home is your primary defence against a number of natural elements (and rodents). Your roof consists of a system of structures that hold together and compliment each other to keep your home comfortable, dry, and secure.
Canadian homeowners face a significant number of choices when it comes to protecting their major asset. Modern roofing provides a number of advances that benefit home owners with great protection options - however there are a number of parts to a typical roof structure that home owners may not be as familiar with. One of these items that is less known is roofing underlay.
This post is to help all homeowners understand roofing underlay options, as well as some of the key benefits that roofing underlayment provides your home.
WHAT, actually, IS ROOFING UNDERLAYMENT:
Underlayment is a protective roofing barrier that is installed between the wood (framing, sheathing) materials of your roof structure and the final layer of steel or shingles. It is important to consider whether you are going with a steel finish product or asphalt shingle top layer to ensure you select the best product to protect your home.
To meet the increasing standards across Canada, and right here in Manitoba organizations such as National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) and the Canadian Asphalt Manufacturers Association (CASMA) have been strongly promoting the use of roofing underlayment to ensure top quality residential waterproofing and building code requirements.
At Green Ladder Contractors we value our client relationship, and ensuring that we help homeowners find the right roofing underlayment and finish products that help minimize future repairs and maintenance requirements while extending your roof lifespan.
WHAT ARE THE MAIN TYPES OF ROOFING UNDERLAYMENT:
There are a number of different types of underlayment that you can consider for your roof, each type having a number of its own pros and cons. However, all types, brands and makes of roofing underlayment can basically be distilled into three main categories:
Asphalt-Saturated Felt Underlayment
Rubberized Asphalt Underlayment
Non-Bitumen Synthetic Underlayment
ONE: Asphalt-Saturated Felt Underlayment is one of the most affordable options that homeowners can consider, and it has been around for the most amount of time. This type of underlay is often referred to as the classic “tar paper,” made from a number of products, asphalt, bitumen, polyester and fibreglass - combined - to allow water-resistance while still enabling the roof to breath.
Having said that, though, tar paper, or asphalt-saturated felt paper, is only water-resistant - it is not waterproof.
Asphalt-Saturated Felt Underlay is a great option for homeowners who have steeply sloped roofs (high pitch); however, felt underlayment are not ideal for flat surfaces or any area where water can pool or sit around, infiltrate and eventually seep in and damage your actual roof structure.
What are the perks for deciding to go with the classic asphalt-saturated felt underlayment? It is budget-friendly compared to other underlay water barriers, it is water resistant and it is sufficient for steep sloped roofs.
What are the detriments for deciding to go with classic asphalt-saturated felt underlayment? It doesn’t work on flat or barely sloped roofs, it is only resistant to water not water-proof, and it does break down quicker than other underlay types (especially when receiving direct sunlight - on the roll before use, or as the paper is spread over the surface of a roof).
TWO: Rubberized Asphalt Underlayment is a more enhanced underlay options and it is a newer product line as well. Despite having asphalt in the name of the product it is important to note that many manufacturers do not actually utilize asphalt in the product manufacturing. Rather, manufacturers will use different combos of products like recycled rubber, polyester, polyethylene and fibreglass to add reinforcement. Rubberized Asphalt Underlay is a heat-fused product that forms a solid membrane without seams that covers cracks and even fills them. It creates an air-tight seal around any staples or nails that penetrate the material during the roofing process. It is often installed with large panels that form a solid membrane over the entire roof structure.
Some of the other strengths that rubberized asphalt underlay provides, it also has incredible flexibility - making it an ideal choice if you live in Winnipeg and endure the extreme temperatures that we can see in our Manitoba prairie Canadian climate. This product is waterproof (more than just resistant), it is self-adhesive so it sticks easily to the roof wood structure, and it is resistant to damage from UV rays. It is easy to install on roof tops that have odd shaped areas in certain sections.
The cost can be a little more expensive than most other products due to the waterproof materials that it consists of, however it is easy to install and easy to fix - which takes down the cost of professional instillment to balance for the extra cost on the product itself.
What are the perks for deciding to go with a Rubberized Asphalt Underlay product? It is highly durable, and completely waterproof, it is self-adhering and does a great job sealing your roof from the elements - it doesn’t break down with UV rays - and it has low installation and maintenance costs to offset the cost of the product itself.
What are the detriments of deciding to go with a Rubberized Asphalt Underlay product? It can cost more than other products and it has no resistance to fire.
THREE: Non-Bitumen Synthetic Underlayment are growing to be one of the most popular selections Canadian home owners are choosing to go with when it comes to replacing their roof. These products are made from thermoplastics such as polypropylene and polyethylene. These non-bitumen synthetic products are known for being incredibly waterproof, highly flexible, resistant to mold, and provides a strong, solid barrier to your roof.
To the naked eye, you may not see much difference between the non-bitumen synthetic products don’t appear much different from rubberized asphalt underlay products. However, the biggest difference is that these NBS products are made strictly from synthetic materials allowing them to be incredibly light weight, durable, and resistant to UV ray damage and resistant to fungus.
It is also the most expensive than other underlayment product options.
What are the perks for deciding to go with a Non-Bitumen Synthetic Underlayment product? They are totally waterproof, lightweight and long-lasting, resistant to UV damage and fungus’s or molds.
What are the detriments to NBS products? Really, there is only one - and it is the big one - cost.
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